Former Labor Secretary and fellow Californian Robert Reich has been keeping a close eye on President Trump’s follow-through on the many campaign promises he made to American workers. So far, the scorecard is pretty dismal.
Reich details 13 promises Trump made to the American public that he’s already broken, not even 100 days into his presidency.
Here’s a few of Trump’s broken promises from the Reich list that are particularly disheartening to working people:
He said he’d repeal Obamacare and replace it with something “wonderful.”
Then he didn’t.
He said Hillary Clinton was in the pockets of Goldman Sachs and would do whatever they said.
Then he put half a dozen Goldman Sachs executives in positions of power in his administration.
He said he’d surround himself with all the best and smartest people. You bought it. Then he put Betsy DeVos, an opponent of public education, in charge of education; Jeff Sessions, an opponent of the Voting Rights Act, in charge of voting rights; Ben Carson, an opponent of the Fair Housing Act, in charge of fair housing; Scott Pruitt, a climate change denier, in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Russian quisling Rex Tillerson as secretary of state.
Of course, there are others. Trump said he’d label China a currency manipulator. Then he didn’t. Trump said he’d protect worker safety. Then he made workers less safe on the job. Trump said he’d renegotiate NAFTA to the benefit of American workers then promised CEOs with “pleasant surprises” on NAFTA renegotiation.
Looks like keeping up with Trump’s broken promises to workers is going to be a big job. Secretary Reich will continue to update his list. In the meantime, check out Trump Watch for all the latest news on the threats to workers coming from the Trump Administration, GOP Congress and Supreme Court. Stay tuned.
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by Steve Smith, California Labor Federation